Poor Percy
by Artemismoon91904
Summary: A collection of oneshots in which I subject Percy to some ailment, disability, illness, disorder, etc. and watch him struggle under my control for your amusement. I'm taking requests as specific or as vague as you want in reviews or PMs. Chapter titles are the thing Percy has in that oneshot. I'll affect other characters too if you want. Scenes from different books depicted.
1. Complete Colour Blindness

**This one is pretty gentle compared to potentially life-threatening things but still interesting. Not seeing colour can actually make things pretty difficult.**

 **Characters:**

 **Colourblind!Percy / Colorblind!Percy (UK v US)**

 **Grover (the sweet forgotten summer child)**

 **Leo / depressed!Leo (but tbh that's just canon)**

 **Annabeth (of course)**

 **Will (Doctor man to the rescue)**

 **Brief appearances:**

 **Hazel**

 **Frank**

 **OC daughter of Iris**

* * *

 ** _Lightning Thief:_**

"What kind of punishment is picking strawberries, anyway? I'd rather clean the toilets again," Percy huffed.

"Hey! Some people actually do this for fun, you know. Like me." Grover trotted pantslless in front of Percy, going backwards with little jumps to look at him.

"Like how some people get beaten up by Clarisse for fun, right?" He kicked the ground, looking at his feet.

"You're just in a bad mood."

"I know!" Percy snapped as they arrived at the fields.

"Only pick the red ones," Grover advised and leaped over a bush that Percy would be working on the other side of.

Percy was silent. He looked at the strawberries. Some were lighter than others, maybe, but if experience had taught him anything it was that red and green must be almost exactly the same colour, because as far as he could tell, they were the same shade.

"How can you tell which ones are red?" Percy asked after Grover had already entered _the zone_ and begun picking and happily whistling. The satyr paused.

"What do you mean? They're red." He placed a strawberry that Percy assumed was red into the basket on Percy's side of the bush. "Red."

Percy blinked at it, then frowned at the bush. Leafs are green, unripe things are green, ripe strawberries are red. But the whole bush looked _the same freaking colour_. He took his best guess and pulled one from the bunch.

Grover looked over initially annoyed, then frowned in consideration. "Are you colour blind?"

"Duh. I thought you already knew that."

Grover scrunched his face together and looked with some longing at the fields of grey Percy couldn't quite understand his attraction to. "Maybe we can find you something else to do that doesn't have to do with differentiating between red and green."

Percy frowned. "It's other colours, too."

"So you're not red-green colour blind?"

He shook his head. "I'm completely colour blind. Which means I don't see colour. Everyone could suddenly turn purple and I wouldn't notice. Well, no, depends on the shade, I guess... Like violet or... I dunno, what are other names for shades of purple?"

Grover knew when to ignore tangents. "Do you know what colour shirt you're wearing?"

Percy looked down at his fluorescent orange camp shirt and considered it. "Hmmm... probably not green... Blue?

"It's orange."

"Oh."

"Wait, how is blue your favourite colour if you can't see it?"

"It was the one colour I used to be able to see. Well, I guess actually it was blue and yellow but yellow is just old white. Blue is fancy white. I mean, I could never see them fully, but I have some idea of what they're like. And blue is, like, an act of rebellion. Making food blue. You know that, though."

Grover nodded. "That's kind of... sad."

Percy shrugged and stood up, not bothering to brush the dirt from his knees. "It's not too bad."

"Is that why you didn't want to come out here?"

"Picking strawberries?" Percy clarified, and Grover nodded. "Yeah. I don't like to feel like I have a disability."

"Which is why you never mentioned it?"

"Not until you asked."

"Sorry." Grover picked up the basket with one red and one green berry in it. Percy waved a dismissive hand. "I'll tell Chiron why you can't complete your 'punishment' and see if you can get off free."

"Mr. D would never let that happen, but you can go ahead and try. Thanks, by the way."

"No problem."

* * *

 _ **Mark of Athena**_

Leo fiddled with some gadget he was making at the table. Percy wan't out on the deck guarding, which meant he should be sleeping, in theory, but he couldn't bring himself to lie down. Leo's tools were sprawled across the length of the dining table, him on one end and Percy on the other, and neither boy had said anything since they both sat down. Percy's eyes were closed despite his refusal to sleep, and he was enjoying the feeling of being over water.

"Jackson, you asleep?" Leo whispered in the loud kind of way that it would have woken Percy up if he had been asleep.

"Nope," He said, eyes still closed, head leaned back so that the pressure of his neck against his Adam's apple made it difficult to speak in anything but a smothered, low tone.

"Could you toss over the yellowish plastic in front of you?"

Percy opened his eyes and looked out of the bottom of them only to find that there were at least eight different sheets of plastic ranging in thickness, shape, and shade of grey. "Don't you have tool-kinesis or something?"

"No. I also don't have my yellow plastic." Leo barely bothered to glance up. He seemed in bad mood, which was unlike him in general, and Percy didn't want to make it worse.

"Right. The yellow one." He sat up and surveyed the table as quickly as he could. Yellow was light, right? So just the lightest one. That was fine. He chose one that looked almost white and threw it to Leo. The son of Hephaestus looked up while reaching for it, then paused with his hand just above it. He looked at Percy.

"Either you hate me, you're completely colour blind, or both."

"Why do you have so much plastic all over the table anyway?"

"So both. The yellow one is on your far right."

Percy hit the correct yellow sheet of plastic over to Leo, mildly embarrassed, impressed at Leo's fast guess, but mostly disappointed in himself. He had been able to guess just fine until today.

"I don't hate you," Percy said.

Leo chuckled in a way that scared Percy a little. "I know. Only I do that."

Percy was silent. So was Leo.

"How about," Leo proposed in a too-serious tone, "I don't tell people you can't tell an apple from an orange, and you don't mention my bad day?"

"Apples and oranges have different shapes..."

"Percy."

"Deal."

Leo nodded to the older boy and continued with his strange, yellow project.

A little while passed before Leo took in the 'before I speak' breath and Percy opened his eyes again. "You should probably tell everyone before something happens and it becomes a real problem."

Percy looked defensively into Leo's dark eyes. "Right back at you."

* * *

 ** _Some made up event taking place some time in Heroes of Olympus but after that last scene:_**

"Red wire to the blue godsdamn circle."

Percy could hear that Leo was beyond annoyed through the blockade as he stared at the monochrome control panel.

"I can't," Percy stared desperately like maybe if he didn't blink some colour would return to his world.

"Why not!?" Annabeth called, pacing as the second baracade, this one with thin spikes attached, closed in with agonising slowness.

"I'm colour blind," Percy whimpered in utter frustration, "Completely."

Annabeth was silent.

"Wise Girl?"

"If I had known that I wouldn't have pushed you into the control room," Annabeth said, barely audible.

"Now isn't the time for I-told-you-so's... but I told you so," Leo said.

"We'll find a way around it. That's the biggest problem right now."

" _Chica_ , I think the biggest problem is that we're going to become demigod kebabs," Leo's voice was somehow devoid of panic.

"Right."

"I can kinda see some different shades... but all of the connectors are circles, so that might be a problem," Percy brought them back to task, feeling more useless than ever. Less than useless; a weight dragging everyone down.

"Okay, alright," Leo gathered himself, "There are two red wires. The one you need can only reach one blue circle. It's light blue so if there are any really dark ones rule them out. If a wire can reach two or more light circles, rule them out."

Percy took a deep breath and did his best to identify what Leo had said. There were a few dark circles. Nope. There were some wires that didn't reach light ones at all, not those either, and not the ones that were so long they could reach everything.

"Did you connect anything?" Leo asked quickly.

"No."

"Well, something happened, 'cause the wall is moving faster now. How dark do you generally see... I dunno, an apple?"

"Like medium dark, I think." Percy looked for an apple-shaded wire.

"Rule out any wire significantly lighter or darker that what you imagine," Annabeth cut in.

Percy measured his greyscale. "Two left."

He could hear a loud sigh from through the wall. "Guess."

Nopenopenopenopenope.

Nope.

"Okay."

"And hurry."

His eyes strained trying to see any minute difference that might help decide. One of them was probably green. Why was it always red and green?

He took a breath and reached quickly to the top wire, but stopped before connecting it.

"There has to be another way out," He said instead.

"50/50 chance you save us, just pick," Leo insisted.

"50/50 chance he kills us," Annabeth said.

"We don't necessarily know what will happen if he gets it wrong. It could just speed up again then he does the right one after that."

"We don't even know if he narrowed it down right!"

The wall next to the metal barrier exploded. Percy stood there with his hands out. "Earthquakes."

Leo and Annabeth ran in, and Percy saw behind them the spiked wall closing in far too close for comfort. They hadn't told him to not freak him out, he assumed. Considerate.

Leo looked at the control panel and pulled at his hair in stress. "What were you gonna do?"

Percy went over to that infernal machine and pointed to the wire and connector.

"Do it," Leo said.

Percy touched them. The spiky wall slammed against the barrier.

"That's green and yellow," Annabeth said.

"Damn," Percy breathed. "That would have been... bad."

~~~~ _later on the Argo II~_ ~~~

"Completely?"

"No colour," Percy confirmed.

"How sad." Hazel frowned.

"Not really," Percy shrugged. "Some shrimp can see millions more colours than humans can. Doesn't make your lame colour vision sad."

"To shrimp it's sad," Leo said.

"So, you just see everything like a black and white movie," Frank said.

Percy blinked and looked around. "There are movies in black and white?"

"Man, the Wizard of Oz must've been a hoot for you." Leo laughed and the others followed.

"...the yellow brick road?" Percy asked.

"No, it starts off in black and white and changes to technicolour," Hazel said.

"'Technicolour,'" Nico smiled a little.

"Oh. No one told me that," Percy said and sighed. "That might be a little sad, actually."

 ** _After the war but everything is good and plot doesn't matter:_**

"You haven't even brought it up until now," Will gave his disappointed Mom look to Percy.

"It didn't seem important." Percy shrugged. "It's just colour."

"It is important. Especially since we have a cure. Want it?"

"Depends," Percy said.

"On...?"

"Are Annabeth's eyes grey?"

"I think so."

"Then I don't need it." Percy nodded finally.

"I think you'll find that grey is a shade and a colour. You're missing one," Will enticed him.

Percy considered. "I'll ask Annabeth."

The next day he was in the Iris cabin, eyes closed, some stranger's hands on his face.

"This seems a little..." Percy searched for the word.

"Stop moving your eyes," the Iris kid said.

"Far fetched?" Will suggested.

"I was gonna say stupid, but far fetched works too."

"If it's so stupid you can have fun with your varying shades of grey," the Iris kid sassed. She removed her hands. "It's conscious activated—temporary for as long as you want it to last. Switch colour on and off just by thinking of what you want to see." She looked at Will. "He's the last one this year. I don't care if they can't see any colour at all."

"He can't."

"Exactly. Last one. And, Percy, you can open your eyes now."

He continued staring at the dark. It was a different kind of dark. Black made out of colour. Cool. Weird, but cool.

He opened his eyes and immediately gasped, eyes wide, and shut them again.

"Woah." He breathed like he was out of breath. He opened his eyes again, everything Back in Black (and white). His eyes felt like he had just stared into the sun and his brain was overwhelmed, head pounding. "Ow."

Will looked around. "Maybe somewhere less... overwhelming than the Iris cabin would be better."

"No, it's fine," Percy insisted and brought the colour back. He could hardly process it. Everything seemed to be screaming and bleeding, but in a good way, and burning through his retinas. He was determined to keep his eyes open, though he squinted against the rainbows that exploded with colours that he wasn't sure he could name on sight. His mind throbbed. "Wow." He found himself breathless, then dizzy, then on the floor, everything returned to greyscale.

"You passed out," Will explained. Percy could fill in the colour of his hair and skin and eyes with his imagination in a dulled form, and he smiled. "That's a good thing?" Will asked with a reasonably confused look.

"I saw colours! I didn't think I would ever know what they look like. Thanks."

"Uh, no problem. Are you alright? Headache? Your pupils are immensely dilated."

"I have a headache but I'm fine." Percy stood up, clenching his teeth to try to distract from the pressure behind his eyes, and walked outside. Will followed him.

"We should slowly expose you to different-"

"Wow! Green!" Percy cut him off, looking around at the grass and trees in awe.

Will sighed and positioned himself next to Percy so he could ease him to the ground if his brain shut down from visual overload again.

"Wow," Percy breathed again and turned to Will.

The doctor frowned and moved his face closer to Percy's in examination. "Your eyes are rainbow. Must be a side effect."

"So I won't ever be able to see what colour my eyes are?"

"There are always pictures."

"Awesome! Where's Annabeth!?" His eyes changed back to bright green with a blink.

"Probably at lunch with everyone else." Will smiled.

"Let's go!" Percy's eyes blinked back to rainbows and he took off for the dining pavilion.


	2. Narcolepsy

**Pretty dangerous. Fun for me. Quite a spicy disorder that not many people talk about. Let's do this.**

 **Characters:**

 **Narcoleptic!Percy**

 **Annabeth**

 **Grover**

 **Hazel**

 **Nico**

 **Mentioned Characters:**

 **Zoe**

 **Artemis**

* * *

 _ **Lightning Thief:**_

Percy's eyes popped open. That must have been a nightmare. At what point had he fallen asleep? Woken up? Where was he? In his panic he felt his senses shutting down and the outside world drifting quickly into fogginess, then to nothing.

When he woke up again, it was thankfully with some more clarity.

"You drool when you sleep," A pretty blonde he might have recognised from a dream said. He wasn't sure he liked her very much.

"I know." Percy wiped his face in some attempt to preserve what little dignity was left after all of the times he had passed out embarrassingly.

"You also pass out pretty easily," She commented, looking down at him. Percy sat up trying to match the height she gained from standing.

"Ha ha. Funny." He glared humourlessly.

She rolled her eyes at him, only fueling his rage. "Don't get all haughty; it's no big deal. Just not what I'd expect from... never mind."

"From what?" Percy demanded.

Just then Grover came bounding in. Good. A familiar face. But... wait, what? What was...

GOAT LEGS!? Some memory of already having discovered this came back, but not before he felt his body flop over.

He woke up again feeling like crap. He wasn't sure what was going on or how many times he had had sleep attacks or what the words floating into his ears were saying, or even if they were words. It took a few minutes for him to realise that he was blinking around the room and ignoring the blonde talking to him. And that he was speaking. He paused in the middle of his sentence as soon as he did, because he had no idea what he was saying.

"He's awake now," Grover said.

"Fascinating."

Percy frowned at her. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Annabeth Chase. And you're narcoleptic."

"So I've been told." His head hurt with exhaustion. He shook his head hard to try to fight off another attack.

"While you're sitting down," Grover said, "We have some things to explain to you."

* * *

 _ **Titan's Curse:**_

The world was literally in his hands. Or the heavens were on his shoulders, rather, but the analogy was close enough. Stronger and stronger medication mixed with sleeping on a schedule the best he possibly could had minimised attacks since the year before, but he could definitely feel one coming on even before he ended up lifting the heaviest weight even possible. He tried screaming to keep himself up, or at least to relieve something in him, but he couldn't help it when he felt his knees buckle and he dropped to the floor, praying to every god he could think of that if his sleeping self was smart enough to turn off puzzle alarms, it would be smart enough not to let the heavens drop.

He gained consciousness and awareness at some point during a battle that he couldn't fully process, not from sleepiness, but from the distracting and blinding pain in his whole body. _Annabeth had to deal with this for way longer than me_. He thought, _And Annabeth doesn't have narcolepsy to pass the time_. The strain put him under again, not completely against his will.

Someone else took his place. He was fighting now. He couldn't. He couldn't fight. He couldn't move. His head went first this time, then his arms and he dropped his sword before his whole body dropped.

"I'm sorry," Percy said in the chariot. He fought persistent confusion. Annabeth was in front of him. So was Artemis, and Zoe was on the floor.

"It's not your fault. You can still hold your own in your sleep, by the way," Annabeth assured him before they both gave their attention to Zoe. Percy was sure that was the most debilitating series of attacks during the day that he had had with the worst timing

* * *

 _ **Last Olympian:**_

Percy felt that familiar paralysing tiredness come over him, but he stayed awake, the strange, foreign water of the Styx pulling him out of sleep but pushing him further in at the same time. Annabeth grounded him, and his mortality was bound to the small of his back. Nico pulled him out and he lay sprawled across the underworld floor, feeling powerful and defeated at the same time. He felt devoid of yet full of energy. The positive elements slowly grew to overcome the negative ones. He stood up.

* * *

 _ **Later in The Last Olympian:**_

"No, it's okay, really! I can fight!" Percy insisted. "I got the blessing of Achilles for a reason."

"Curse," Annabeth corrected. "It's the curse of Achilles."

"Uh, okay, same thing. But I haven't had a sleep attack since then. I'll be fine."

"You might not have passed out but you still sleep for a really long time," Annabeth said.

"Chiron said that happens to everyone. I'm basically normal. And I'll be the most help taking out waves of people as they come, then I'll sleep in between. We don't actually have much of a choice."

Annabeth looked at him carefully, worriedly, analytically. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Seaweed Brain, but you're right."

"YES!" Percy jumped around.

Annabeth smiled at his energy and hoped it would last.

* * *

 _ **Later Later in The Last Olympian:**_

"You offer me immortality but won't fix my mortality?" Percy argued.

"There's nothing to fix. You've done that yourself by bathing in the Styx," Poseidon reasoned. "I'm on your side, son, but we can't take away something that isn't there."

"But it is there! You can't _'cure'_ Narcolepsy!"

"Not if you don't have it."

Percy screamed in frustration. The one thing he would ever wish for and he can't. Now though he was hyperaware of this emotional distress giving him energy rather than usurping it.

"The blessing is just covering it." He calmed himself as he was used to doing, usually to prevent a sleep attack.

"But it's gone. Now, the real question, will you take the generous offer of immortality?"

Percy scowled.

* * *

 _ **Son of Neptune:**_

The woman on his shoulders, Percy waded across the river, strength leaving him with every step. Then with the strength went his consciousness, and confusion brought him under the water. The next thing he knew he was being pulled out by some fancy looking teenagers in equally as fancy looking shirts, the woman gone. He was bombarded by questions that he couldn't quite understand for the fuzziness in his head like he had just woken up after a two day long nap keeping him from the solidity of the world. He felt himself answering some of their questions, and eventually relinquished control of those strangely automatic functions to the part of him that had taken over in completing them without his permission, and he fell asleep again.

Then he was in a bed in a room he didn't recognise. Well, to be fair, there wasn't much he recognised recently. He was mostly sure he had amnesia. A girl with dark skin and gold eyes was sitting next to him.

"You don't look too hot." She had an old-timey Southern accent that made Percy immediately trust her.

"What happened?" His vision was strangely blurred, not consistently but focusing and unfocusing sporadically and his eyes darted around. It made him dizzy.

"You carried Juno partly across the Little Tiber but you passed out before you got to the other side. A few of us pulled you you ashore, figured out that you have amnesia, and then we brought you here. The infirmary."

"Oh."

"You're obviously a demigod, but none of us here recognise you. Oh, I'm Hazel, by the way."

"Uh, hi, Hazel. I'm Percy. What's... 'here?'" His tiredness was starting to wear off.

"Camp Jupiter." A vampire stepped out of the shadows.

"Nico, you shouldn't come in unannounced like that," Hazel said. The vampire's name was Nico. He approached Percy's bed and held out a pale, thin hand with a silver skeleton ring on his middle finger.

"Percy, you said? Nice to meet you. I'm Nico di Angelo."

Percy shook the boys hand carefully like the ring might bite and nodded instead of giving verbal reply.

"Are you tired?" He asked. Percy nodded again. "I was just thinking, you passed out pretty easily back there. I know you have amnesia and all, but do you remember if you have narcolepsy as well?"

It was a familiar word. Percy looked down to consider it. He wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but he felt pretty sure that it was his, as much as his name. "Yeah, I do."

"I have a friend with it as well. I'll help you if you need anything." He started out the door.

"Where are you going?" Hazel called in a soft voice after him.

"To tell Reyna about Percy's situation. She is praetor, after all. And, don't worry, I'll announce myself." He left through the door, not the shadow it cast.

* * *

 ** _House of Hades:_**

Love told him to do it. To grab onto her. Not that he could actually do anything. Everyone knew not to depend on him for physical support. He could give way at any moment. And now that would mean letting himself and Annabeth fall into Tartarus. And he felt his mind filling up with sleep.

"I'm caught, Percy. The web is around my cast. You can't help me. I know you want to, but this time let me help you. I'll be okay if you let me fall. Let Nico pull you up. Let me go."

Nico's hand was just within reach, but it would mean letting go of Annabeth to grab that. To think that any of them would assume he would do that. He would readily die a million painful deaths for Annabeth.

He looked up at Nico and his vision went dark for a terrifying second. He felt his grip weaken like he had just woken up and hadn't fully regained muscle control. "The doors..." he lost his sentence. His eyes closed. "Go there. Meet... meet us. Promise."

"I promise," Nico said, and Percy wasn't sure if he really saw a tear fall down his face or whether it was something in the dream world he was about to enter invading real life. Nico revoked his arm and Percy looked down at Annabeth.

"I love you." He felt his hand let go of the wall, and Annabeth continuing to hold his hand, and the feeling of falling just before he lost consciousness, thinking desperately of any way this could have been avoided. There was none.

* * *

 ** _Later in The House of Hades:_**

Neither of them could tell how long it had been outside of the Acheron before Percy stumbled in exhaustion again.

"I'm sorry. You know I'm usually not this..." He was out, lowered to the ground by Annabeth. As selfishly content at having someone with her in this hell, she knew she would have been more efficient alone. Percy's sentiment was undeniably an act of true love, but she didn't need love right now. She needed her boyfriend to be safe, as much as he hated her thinking of him as someone to protect rather than someone who could fight for himself. They had both seen what difference was there when he had the curse of Achilles and when he didn't, regardless even of the invincibility aspect. In that time he had gained muscle and confidence, looking as much a hero as he had confessed to her he wished he was. He told her in tears one night that he was sorry for being an inconvenience, and as much as she tried, she couldn't convince him that he wasn't. His loyalty brought him down here with her, and he would be crushed if Annabeth acted in the least bit like he was holding her back. But he was. He was.

She cried over his sleeping form.

* * *

 _ **Some plotless place after BoO where everything is and everyone is there:**_

After Tartarus, everyone noticed, but no one said anything. Percy had gotten worse. He could barely be left alone. When at his best he had had around two sleep attacks a week without exertion, they were coming over twenty a day with him just sitting down. He stopped leaving his cabin unless someone asked him to accompany them somewhere. For embarrassment or safety, no one could be sure.

He confided in Annabeth only.

"Every time I so much as th... think..." He was asleep again, but he was already laying down. Annabeth wrote down his sentence fragment and waited the fifteen minutes it took for him to wake up.

"You said 'every time I so much as think,'" She reminded him after she saw, ten minutes after he had physically woken up, that he was fully conscious.

"Of Tartarus," His voice broke, eyes rolled back into his head, and body went limp again. Annabeth herself couldn't help the wince and shivers the word brought her. Her heart raced like she was running a 5k as images flashed relentlessly through her mind. Of course. Of course he wouldn't be able to stay awake through this.

She left a note for him and left to go to the statue of Zeus in Cabin 1; the ultimate authority. She knelt at it's feet and looked up.

"Lord Zeus, Percy of all of those who have helped you and the rest of the gods has been of the most assistance. He deserves a reward that he so desperately wants, needs, and deserves. If not for his actions as a reward, then think of how much more useful he'll be to you in the future if he doesn't have narcolepsy. You're smart. You know it's true, and you've probably already figured it out. Please, heal him."

Annabeth waited there with her head down for a while. The sun went down around her, and she stayed, her thoughts repeating a prayer the whole time.

"I would help," The stone groaned to life and Annabeth's head snapped up.

"But" She prompted, ready to debate the King of the Gods on anything he had to say.

"But healing is Apollo's area, and he's... preoccupied."

"Oh, you have got to be fu-"

"Remember who you're talking too, demigod," The statue commanded.

Annabeth took a deep breath and regained her composure. "How long until he's free?"

"A while, most likely."

She ground her teeth. "What about you, _Lord Zeus_. Surely you have power enough to cure a mere infliction of mortality. Or is Apollo the real King with his far superior abilities?"

The statue scoffed with offence. "I am the true King, most powerful of all the gods!"

"Then prove it, and fix Percy Jackson. Unless you can't," She taunted.

"I most certainly can! I am offended that you don't think I'm capable of such a simple thing!"

"Then you'll be even more offended to know that I think you're just stalling because you really _aren't_ capable."

"HOW DARE YOU!" The stature froze up again, and Annabeth ran to Percy. He was already standing in the doorway when she arrived, grinning.

Annabeth slept in Percy's cabin that night. Well, neither of them really 'slept.' Percy was excited about that fact. He was on the top bunk, Annabeth just below him, and every half hour or so he would swing his head down and whisper loudly, "Hey, I'm still awak, what about you!?" And Annabeth didn't have the heart to tell him to stop. She eventually decided not to respond to him, and was only met with a cheerful and quieter "Goodnight!" And the sound of him flopping back down into the bed. She smiled and slept the rest of the night undisturbed.

When she woke up, Percy was already awake and walking in circles around the room.

"Good morning!" He grinned and there was a childish essence about him, like he himself and the whole world as he came into contact with it were new. "What do people do when they're not sleeping? Like, generally unimportant things."

"You weren't comatose," Annabeth giggled just a little bit, but noticed the dark circles under his eyes despite their green shining bright like emeralds rather than crashing dark within themselves like the sea.

"I know, but I feel like worries of falling asleep during everything dominated my whole life. I'm not sure what to do without those. And I know I didn't sleep, like, at all—well, not _like_ , I actually didn't sleep—but, I have, you don't even know, _SO_ much energy. It's amazing." He bounced around. "'Where do I put all of the energy?' I guess I'm asking."

Annabeth, never the morning person, blinked the relentless sleep from her eyes and stood to join Percy in the middle of the empty room. Nothing for him to catch himself on if he were to pass out, she noticed. Intentional positioning.

"If you want to expend it you could literally do almost anything here. It's all just fancy working out."

Percy gasped. "I could be not-borderline skinny."

"You're not skinny." Annabeth held his arm.

"Borderline," He reiterated and practically trotted out the door. "Spar with me!"

"After I get dressed," Annabeth said.

"Meet you at the arena!" He hopped once then broke into a sprint like he never had sprinted before. Annabeth couldn't think of a time when he would have.

 **I really like this one (obviously, I wrote a lot) so if you like it too I might continue it with an itty bitty bit of plot just used to explain things. I could bring the narcolepsy back easily and break poor Percy's heart. Just say the word if you want it. That word is "humus."**


	3. Trauma-Induced Mutism

**Taking the origins way back with this one and totally not because I'm running out of individual scenes to pick on and alter. I might do different kinds of/reasons for mutism if you want cuz I like this one. Options might be physical health/deformation, selective, paranoia whatever you feel. Review or PM if you have ideas about mutism or otherwise that you wanna see.**

 **I would like to clarify that not all traumatic experiences leading to mutism have to do with speaking/not speaking, I just made it that way to be dramatic.**

* * *

 ** _TRIGGER WARNING: CHILD ABUSE/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE_**

 **Stay safe my children and don't read the first section if you know you shouldn't.**

* * *

 ** _Pre-Books; Percy is 7 years old and let's pretend that Sally is newlyish married because I don't know her marriage timeline:_**

 ** _TRIGGER WARNING^_**

Mom wasn't home. He hated when she did that. That meant he was alone. All he had to do was stay out of the way, but that was so hard. It just was. That was why Gabe locked him in the closet. Because he couldn't stay out of the way.

But after a few hours, not only was he super super bored, he also really had to pee, and he didn't want to pee on Mom's stuff.

At first he planned to quietly open the doors and go to the bathroom, then go back inside before Gabe noticed. Then he tried. He pushed on the doors. Then he pulled. Then he hit them a little bit, but jumped back when Gabe yelled " _SHUT UP IN THERE!"_ over the sound of the TV. It was locked.

"I have to pee!" Percy called.

"ARE YOU DEAF _AND_ RETARDED, YOU SON OF A WHORE!? I SAID SHUT UP."

"Please let me out," He called again only slightly quieter. "Let me out!" His volume rose significantly unintentionally.

The next thing he heard wasn't the yell he was expecting. The pounding of feet sounded towards him. He could hear Gabe's heavy, infuriated breathing over his own heartbeat taking over his ears. The closet door was ripped open. Percy screamed and shook in place, unable to process. Unable to move.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY." It would never be enough. His vocal chords strained. His voice was shrill. He couldn't be any louder. This was the only thing that could save him as Gabe's big, grimy hand closed around his neck and yanked him out of the corner he had somehow ended up in. It would never be enough. He continued to spit out choked screams through Gabe's fingers. His head felt hot and full. His ears felt like they were bleeding. Soon he couldn't breathe enough to scream. The whole world was screaming for him. The black dots in all objects emerged from them and taunted him, dancing where only he could see them and where they made sure he couldn't see anything else. Nothing but Gabe's pink, sweaty face, teeth barred, lips moving and spit flying at Percy with his curses, eyes burning with anger.

Gabe tossed him to the ground like a rag. He hit his head and suddenly the blackness took over, but not for long enough. Gabe was on top of him, then there was a pain in Percy's jaw, then he tasted warm metal. It took a few punches for him to become aware of what was happening, and by then he was already falling out of consciousness again, unsure of whether the screaming was his own or someone else's.

He woke up to the sight of his Mom. He was terrified. His heart had spread it's sporadic rhythm to every part of him. She was crying.

"...Mom," Percy whispered, as quietly as he could and as best as he could with his jaw feeling painfully numb and out of place.

"THAT F-" She started.

"What's that, Sally?" Gabe was behind her. Percy's fingers went numb. His whole body screamed at him to do something but all that happened were sobs. Gabe pulled her up by her hair and spoke right into her face. "You pushed this vermin out. Now get rid of him before I do."

"Never."

Percy sat and watched what Gabe did next, all of it, paralysed with his eyes glued in place, right on the scene, as the next hour transpired. His chest was caught the whole time. He couldn't cry. There was too much to cry at. He could do absolutely. Nothing.

After that day, Sally spoke quietly, few times and far apart, gradually getting better. Only very slowly.

Percy never spoke again.

* * *

 _ **Still Pre-Books; progressing time**_

After three months of silence, Sally realised that Percy's refusal to speak wasn't something he was intentionally doing. That realisation had come through a trial, one in which Gabe had been holding a knife to Percy and demanding that he respond to whatever had been asked of him. Percy had screamed voicelessly and cried silent tears. He had mouthed his answer but couldn't speak, then he passed out from fear, the knife that had been held so close to his face scratching him on the cheek just before Sally had sneaked close enough to attack Gabe herself.

Sally started taking Percy to a special school with ASL classes they couldn't afford a few days after that. Sally took out some books to learn on her own. She explained their situation to the instructor, minus the part about domestic abuse, and he agreed to take them in as somewhat of a charity case. Sally still paid, but less than half as much, and Percy wasn't given very much personalised instruction.

Surprisingly even with his learning disabilities he picked up the language quickly, even imitating some of the deaf kids in his class by mouthing what he was signing as he did. He found the class very quiet, and he grew to rely on that silence and find comfort in it.

He came to prefer PSE; ASL was too complicated to mouth and sign at the same time. He still learned it though and could switch seamlessly to accommodate some of the kids who preferred it in conversation.

He was pretty sure he was the only kid at the school who wasn't deaf, but then again, he assumed everyone was deaf, and people assumed he was as well. They couldn't tell he wasn't making noise. He actually felt like he fit in. He found some friends. He felt wanted and cared for.

Until the charity case started causing problems. Percy had no idea what happened. It was just him surrounded by broken desks and unconscious classmates. He was told he lashed out for some reason, and the teacher says she heard him scream, though both Percy and Sally knew that couldn't be. There was no way he could stay there after that, and no other school, public for 'normal' kids or private for hearing impaired kids, would take him after news of his decimation got out. Parents pressed charges and the Jacksons were drained of every cent. Percy, of course, blamed himself.

He stopped going to school when he was eight and was taken in due to his desperate situation as a paperboy and paid slightly more than minimum wage out of pity. He found consonance in that the library had free public access, and that ASL books were mostly pictures. He became adept on his own, and started offering himself as a tutor with sneaky prices that grew every session. It worked. Parents were more than willing to accept his help with their young (younger than him) hearing impaired children for far less than other professionals. He sold himself as having learned it as a first language. They didn't need to know he wasn't born mute.

The family pulled it together, and as soon as they had Sally insisted that Percy stop having to work and try to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.

He was sent to his first boarding school the summer after he turned nine. He was kicked out before even a semester had finished. The teachers couldn't figure out how such a quiet kid could cause so much trouble.

He continued to be sent again and again to schools that didn't understand and didn't work until Sally finally settled on Yancy Academy, for 'troubled' kids. She hated to label her son as troubled, but she knew that if anything would work for him, it would be Yancy.

Grover appeared a few months into Percy's time there and seemed insistent on being his friend, even if all of their conversations were games of charades or trying to decipher Percy's chicken scratch writing. Percy was really grateful for a friend.

* * *

 _ **Almost The Lightning Thief**_

Nancy Bobofit kicked one of Grover's crutches out from under him while he and Percy were walking, _not bothering anyone_ , across the lawn of the boarding school. He fell to the side and Percy only just caught him in time.

"Whoops," Nancy said and shrugged, tossing it across the field with all of her strength, which was worryingly a lot. Percy gave her his best glare and helped Grover to standing. Before he could even start to go to retrieve his other crutch, Nancy thought it would be a good idea to open her stupid mouth again. "You think you're helping him but you can't even speak. That means I can say whatever I want to you and you can't say anything back."

"Percy don't let her get to you," Grover advised as he had done so many times.

Nancy got in Percy's face. She was taller than him, but he held his head high and stared her down. It was all he could do.

Honestly, he couldn't even remember why he couldn't speak. He knew it was psychological because some school counselor here had tried to get him to speak again, as per instructions from his mom. It didn't work out too well. But he did learn that nothing had happened to him physically to cause him to lose the ability to speak. He just knew that he couldn't, but he had the ability to. That was infuriating. He had tried to reach back and find the memory of what had done this to him, but every time he tried to do that, that night he would be met with terrible nightmares of monsters swarming him, crushing him, and defiling his mom. He was sure nothing like that happened, but if that was his subconscious manifestation of the event, he wasn't sure he really wanted to remember the details. He would just like it if someone told him what was up.

"You know, everyone knows you're not really mute. Why are you pretending? You like pretending to be a freak? You think it's funny?"

He didn't say anything. Of course. But his heart did start beating faster.

She scoffed and her nasty breath filled Percy's nose. "Stop faking. Just speak. There's no point. We know. We all know you're just doing it for attention. I bet I could make you talk. Or at least scream. Let's test my theory."

Percy very quickly set Grover down on the floor and punched Nancy in the face. She shouted some unsavoury things and lunged at him. He dodged and she ended up flinging herself onto the floor, literally eating the dirt. Percy laughed (which was unvoiced; only huffs of air). Nancy did not like that.

"You think this is funny!?" She raged. "I'm telling on you!"

"Tattle-tale," Grover said with a snort, then his eyes went wide and his smile retreated as he realised he had said it out loud. Nancy made for Grover. Percy would defend himself, sure, but he would kill for his friends. He used Grover's remaining crutch to pole-vault over and kicked Nancy square in the chest with both feet like a kangaroo. He landed next to her on the floor and kicked her in the face, knocking her unconscious. The other kids stared and at least four ran inside to report the incident. Percy nodded over to the other side of the courtyard where Grover's other crutch was.

"Yeah... yeah, let's go." Grover let himself be helped.

Grover used his alone time now that Percy was in solitary for a month to learn some sign language for him. If he was going to be this kid's protector, it would do good to be able to understand him. Mr. Brunner was the only teacher who could sign, which was not unintentional because that way he had to be with Percy a lot of the time, so Chiron taught the satyr like a real student. It went well, and Percy continued to teach ad learn after he was freed.

* * *

 _ **The Lightning Thief**_

 _"_ You drool when you sleep."

Percy frowned and nodded curtly. He didn't know who this (really pretty) girl was, but she was kind of annoying.

"Do you feel okay? You took some hits."

What did she mean? And come to think of it, where was this? _AND WHERE WAS HIS MOM!?_ He nodded despite himself, though he must've looked shaken up.

"You don't talk much."

He had to smirk at that. He shook his head and let the reality creep back in and steal the smile from his lips.

Then Grover trotted in. Then there was a lot of explaining to be done.

 _~~*~~later~~*~~_

In the middle of what was a really emotionally conflicting tour, Annabeth, as the girl was called, decided to get personal.

"So, how did you lose your voice?"

 _How do you think you could understand me even if I could tell you?_ He signed as quickly as he could to try to make sure she couldn't understand him. This was the first time he had signed to her, and for the first time with anyone he was hoping she didn't know ASL.

"Oh, of course you sign. Never mind. Sorry."

Percy put his hands up and shook his head in what he was pretty sure said 'duh' or maybe 'whatever.'

"Can you teach me?" She stopped walking and turned to him. Percy was a little taken aback. Usually people didn't ask right away; they didn't care enough to or they were too nervous. Or if they did ask, they usually just wanted to know curse words.

 _OK._ Percy signed very slowly and mouthed with it, nodding just for good measure.

* * *

 _ **The Son Of Neptune**_

He couldn't figure out much but that he seemed to be dyslexic, invincible, and unable to speak. Not with his voice anyway. His hands did the talking. It wasn't the best method of taunting the terrifying creatures that he stumbled across, but they seemed to be pissed off by him stopping, putting his sword between his knees, and waving his hands around enough that he didn't stop. Not being able to communicate didn't really become a problem until he crossed that river, and suddenly there were many people asking him many questions.

"Stop," a strong voice commanded. "He can't speak. Leave. I'm going to talk to the son of Neptune alone."

That sounded wrong to him, but at least she didn't think he was deaf or stupid. The crowd cleared out quickly, abiding out of either fear or respect Percy couldn't tell. Probably both.

"My name is Reyna. This is Camp Jupiter, or New Rome. You seem to be familiar with your powers, and you're old enough that you should know what you are. And yet, I don't know you. What's your name?"

He figured she wouldn't ask that unless she knew she could understand him, so he signed his name. She nodded. "Percy. Do you know how you got here, Percy? Come, follow me." She walked along, watching him. She seemed friendly enough, but somehow he felt like that was only a tactic to get information. He wasn't about to deny her that.

 _I woke up, then I walked. I don't know why. These..._ he knew the word 'monsters' but he wasn't sure she did, or that it was the right word. _These **things** chased me. I killed them with this._ He pulled out the sword that had been with him when he had woken up. _I don't remember anything_.

"Nothing?"

 _No, just my name and another name. Annabeth._

Reyna looked away from him and straight ahead of her. Percy caught a subtle tensing of her lips. She was troubled by his situation.

Percy was too lost in his own concerns to realise that there was someone right in front of him until he literally ran into the obstruction. He looked up to see a skinny pale yellow kid in all black. He couldn't tell whether he was living or dead. He gasped and backed up involuntarily. The dead kid seemed to have a similar reaction, even though Percy was pretty sure _he_ didn't look dead.

"Nico, watch where you're going," Reyna commanded.

"Right, sorry."

Percy stared. _Are you alive?_

Nico's nervous stare turned into an exceptionally annoyed glare.

"Nico," Reyna mitigated the growing tension. "This is Percy. He found his way here and I've determined that he has amnesia."

That last word seemed to strike something in Nico. Percy thought for a moment that Nico might have also mysteriously appeared without a memory, but instead of some strange bonding over that story happening, he was offered a bony hand. "Nico di Angelo. Nice to meet you." He shook with a firm grip that Percy hadn't expected.

 _Percy Jackson._ He signed with his free hand, though his fingerspelling with his left was anything but smooth. He should practice that.

Nico let go of his hand. "Cool name. Reminds me of a friend."

 _Can everyone here sign?_ Percy was a little amazed.

"No," Nico said plainly.

"Not everyone, but many," Reyna corrected. "One of our cohort leaders is deaf, so it isn't uncommon for our demigods to learn."

 _Cohort?_ He spelled with a frown.

"The groups each legion is organised into," Reyna explained.

 _Legion?_ Percy was, and looked, even more confused.

"Come with me to my throne. I'll explain everything."

* * *

 _ **The Mark Of Athena**_

Percy felt really bad for not being able to speak. It just made everything that much more difficult, not being able to talk to the majority of the people on the ship. Leo claimed he "came equipped with six different non-verbal languages, for your convenience," but Percy was pretty sure he was just being funny. It did help that someone other than Annabeth could talk to him, though, as much as he loved talking to her. She was the only one he could trust to speak for him. Leo was always trustworthy for a few sentences, then he started saying weird and unreasonable things. Whoever he was talking to could tell by the weirdness and by Percy's expression if not his wild gestures that Leo had said the wrong thing. They all seemed to think it was funny the first zero times. Percy could concur.

Despite that, it all worked out pretty okay.

* * *

 _ **The House of Hades**_

Of all of the monsters, the memories he found awakened were the worst. This is what he had wanted, once, to learn what had caused him to stop speaking, but reliving them over and over... that was the true meaning of hell. They were fresh in his mind. He could taste the blood in the air. He wasn't sure whose it was.

"PERCY!" A final yell in his head from Annabeth finally snapped him out of the cycle. "It's gone. It has been for a while. I thought you would be paralysed forever. But... Percy, you screamed. With your voice. How did you do that?"

He was shaking violently. His throat felt like a thousand tiny creatures had crawled inside and scraped the sides until there was nothing but bone. He held his neck so tightly he might've been strangling himself. There was fire burning in the bloody crevices left behind by those imaginary creatures. He imagined that something outside of himself had caused it, but he knew it was from that scream Annabeth had mentioned.

 _I did?_

"Yeah, well, more of a squeak, but you were screaming voicelessly before then so I knew what it was." She knelt next to where he had found himself on the floor of hell. The images he saw, the torture he lived through, replayed relentlessly at the front of his mind. This had to stop.

Those things happened, but so long ago. He despised Gabe for everything he had done, especially to his mom, but he had gotten what was coming to him. Sally had gotten her revenge and was fine. She had moved on. It was time to move on. He was dead. She killed him. It was over.

He opened his mouth to speak, he really did. He didn't know what he intended on saying, but something. He tried. He tried to make noise, but nothing was coming out. And it hurt so damn much.

 _I can't._

"I know, you've never been able to speak. That sound you made was just a weird fluke."

 _No. I..._ He tried again, desperately wanting to speak. _I'm ready. I'm okay now. It's okay._ While he signed he didn't stop trying. Honestly, he wasn't sure he knew how anymore.

"What happened?"

 _I know why I stopped talking. And I'm over it. I'm better than him. He can't control my life while he's dead. It ends now._

Annabeth seemed to fill in roughly what had happened. She put an arm around him and they both stood up. "Keep trying, then. If you want to speak, I know you can. I'm always here for you."

 _Pain._ He twisted his fingers tensely and tried to say it at the same time. It didn't really work, but something that could be assessed as a squeak came out.

"Your voice hurts?" Annabeth kept them walking forward, and kept her tone gentle and comforting despite what she just fought alone while Percy was trapped in his personal hell. He nodded. "You can take a break if you want," she said carefully.

 _Can't._ Only simple signs. He was concentrated on something else now.

 _"_ Okay."

 _~~*~~later~~*~~_

After who knew how long of trudging along and squeaking in agony whenever he wasn't fighting that was about to kill them, Percy finally stopped.

 _I should give up._ He collapsed behind a boulder, not even willing to break down until he had that shelter.

"Maybe take a break, but don't give up. You went from not speaking at all for over ten years to constantly trying to engage your vocal chords. There's going to be some problems with that initially, don't you think?"

Percy shrugged defeatedly.

"Don't let Gabe win."

Percy snapped up and met her eyes, then delivered a determined nod.

 _Sleep. I'll wake you up if something happens._

Annabeth hesitated but eventually agreed.

~~*~~later~~*~~

Bob was a miracle worker. Some weird Hell Herbs from around the Hermes shrine served as healing potions, apparently even more powerful and versatile than nectar or ambrosia. He and Annabeth both drank the liquid crushed out of them without question. Percy was pretty sure that Annabeth was feeling a lot better just as he was by watching her blink out of a terrified haze and into slightly less terrified concentration. For Percy, though, the main difference was the ceasing of what he thought would be everlasting pain in his throat. He sighed and simply took a second to enjoy not being in too much pain.

Then he opened his mouth. His lips hesitated this time. He felt ready physically, and mentally he was so ready to get rid of the last affect Gabe would have on the world. He swallowed some bloody saliva and took a breath.

"Annabeth." It came out quietly and strained, something just above a whisper, but undoubtably her name.

She whipped around to look at him and smiled for what must've been the first time since the fall.

"Oh, Percy." She pulled him into an embrace that would make Aphrodite reevaluate the expression of love.

After that he started saying more words, just occasionally, and never full sentences. Whenever he spoke, it required his full effort and attention. Annabeth couldn't have been prouder.

~~*~~later~~*~~

They stumbled out of the Doors on the other side. Never before had Percy been so glad to see other human faces and be blinded by such dim light.

The ensuing battle left little time to celebrate, but the two completely collapsed once it was safe to do so. Annabeth broke down crying for the first time. Percy held her and rocked her. The others stayed respectfully away and watched. They could never imagine what had happened.

"It's okay," Percy said into Annabeth's hair, not quite to a volume that the others could hear, but Annabeth got what she needed from it. Percy's voice; a symbol of bravery, of overcoming. They had done it.

When they eventually got back onto the Argo II, Percy and Annabeth ate, then slept for a long time together in Annabeth's bed. They couldn't dare be apart, and no one dared separate them.

They emerged together in time for lunch and everyone sat together. It was silent and solemn as plates were passed around. Percy stared at his, empty.

Annabeth touched his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

The whole table collectively gasped. Leo almost fell off his chair backwards.

"He can speak? You can speak!?" Nico gaped at Percy and inexplicably drew a strange knowing glance from Jason.

Percy hesitated, making 'more or less' gestures. "Kinda," his voice was hoarse, unsteady and unattractive, but it was working, and at only a little less than normal volume.

"Dude..." Leo steadied himself. "Congrats?"

"What the hell happened that brought your voice back?" Jason ogled at him like a newly discovered species at the zoo.

Percy shifted uncomfortably at both his stare and his question.

 _I don't want to talk about that place ever again_. He signed, and Annabeth spoke it out for him, adding "I'm with him on that."

"Why didn't you say that?" Jason asked as a followup.

Percy took a few breaths to try to calm the stinging in his throat. He didn't think it would be this hard. Some mental override that had been in place for a decade tried to stop him from speaking. He struggled with it, moving his mouth and clenching his teeth, blowing air trying to stimulate some sound.

 _"_ Can't," He squeezed out desperately. It was strangled and jumbled.

"It's really hard for him. He can't do full sentences yet," Annabeth explained, putting an arm around him as a constant comfort and to soothe him in his frustrations.

* * *

 _ **The Hidden Oracle (no important ToA spoilers)**_

"Why?"

Apollo made a face like he'd just accidentally eaten a chunk of expired milk. "You can't speak. Why are you speaking?"

"I learned," Percy said, completely peeved.

"Good for you! I am in need of your assistance."

Percy nodded to Meg. "Who's that?"

"This is Meg, a demigod who rescued me from a band of street thugs. May I come in?"

"No." He shut the door.

Eventually Sally opened the door and invited the god and tiny demigod in. Percy had absolutely no problem refusing to talk to them, or to talk at all, but he ended up having to when he regrettably became their chauffeur.

"Why couldn't you speak before?" Meg was really annoying. Percy was kind of glad Apollo would have to deal with her forever.

"Cuz I didn't." He still wasn't perfectly comfortable with long sentences or speaking a lot in a short amount of time, mostly around strangers, since his voice tended to strain very easily and people thought it was fun to laugh at.

* * *

 _ **Sometime after things...**_

 **[I think Caleo was rushed and forced so I don't ship it so Calypso isn't gonna be here sorry it's my fic tho]**

He couldn't believe it had been almost a year since they had all gotten together, since the battle. A picnic in Central Park with no food seemed like a VERY odd choice, but Piper could be convincing even without her charmspeak. Word had mostly been spread via Nico, the king of shadowtravelling even if it put his boyfriend on edge. They were both, of course, invited too.

It was just turning into winter. The air smelled at its best. Walking, Percy already saw Leo, Jason, and Hazel sitting on a bench. Well, Frank and Hazel were sitting. Leo was pacing and fiddling with his back to Percy. He had only heard that the son of Hephaestus had come back, and he regretted that he had never made the time to come see him until now.

Percy put a finger to his lip for Frank and Hazel to see as he approached. They both caught his eye individually and looked away skillfully so as to not alert Leo of his presence. He was ranting about the cold not being his friend or something when Percy deemed himself close enough to scare him.

"You got taller," He said very forcefully and maybe a little too loudly. Leo jumped like a cat seeing a cucumber and dropped some springs as he said something that might've been a curse in Spanish.

"You got louder!" He raised his voice so it was louder than Percy's had been and threw in some sarcastic tone for good measure. "And more annoying!"

"That's what I'm here for." Percy smiled and gave Leo a hug. "It's been a while."

"So many words, man, slow down. I'm overwhelmed." The two let go and Percy went to hug Frank and Hazel, trying not to be disturbed by how little Leo was now only an inch or two shorter than him. He laughed despite himself. This was going to be fun.


End file.
